Civil War Timeline

Civil War Timeline

1834 – Village of St. Joseph created, a busy Lake Michigan port with a long history of trade (local)

1837 – Michigan joins the Union as a free state (local)

1843 – Quaker & Abolitionist James E. Bonine arrives in Cass County (abolition)

1847 – Kentucky Slave Raid, Cass County (abolition)

1849 – Henry Morton builds home, still standing in Benton Township (local)

1850 – New, stricter Fugitive Slave Act passed (abolition)

1857 – Sojourner Truth settles in Michigan and speaks for equal rights (abolition)

1859 – St. Joseph Congregational Church built, today the site of the Heritage Museum (local)

1859 – A new lighthouse on St. Joseph’s bluff assists mariners (local)

1860 – November - Abraham Lincoln elected President (military/national)

1860 – December – South Carolina secedes from the Union (military/national)

1861 – The village of Brunson Harbor is created to support a ship canal under construction (local)

1861 – March – Seven states have seceded and formed the Confederate States of America (military/national)

1861 – March – Abraham Lincoln sworn in as President (military/national)

1861 – April – Eleven states are now part of the Confederacy (military/national)

1861 – April – Fort Sumter attacked starting Civil War (military/national)

1861 – May – Southwest Michigan troops set out for war (local)

1861 – July – Battle of Bull Run (military/national)

1861 – November – Jefferson Davis elected Confederate President (military/national)

1862 – March – Naval battle between Monitor and Virginia (military/national)

1862 – April – Battle of Shiloh (military/national)

1863 – January – President Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves in rebel states (abolition)

1863 – March – Battle of Thompson’s Station (military/national)

1863 – May – Battle of Chancellorsville (military/national)

1863 – August – 1st Michigan Colored Infantry Regiment (102nd U.S. Colored Troops) raised (military/national)

1864 – May-December –